Category Archives: Reissue

The Lively Ones: Surf Rider!

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Solid instrumental surf from band’s 1963 debut LP

The Lively Ones’ debut album remained their best effort, and a great example of ‘50s instrumentals morphing into ‘60s surf rock. Joel Willenbring supplies the fat-toned sax, and Jim Masoner and Ed Chiaverini the reverbed guitars. The quintet’s first full length pulled together previously released singles – notably the title track’s reworking of the Ventures’ “Spudnik” – with a handful of covers and a few memorable originals. The album opens with Tom Fitzpatrick’s crisp drumming kicking off Dick Dale’s “Surf Beat,” smoothly integrating Willenbring’s growling sax with the low twanging guitars. A take on the classic “Miserlou” hasn’t the manic staccato virtuosity of Dale’s version, but the drums once again cut sharp lines behind the energetic guitars. The more obscure covers are even better: a moody take on the Strangers’ “Caterpillar Crawl” and an upbeat romp through “Walkin’ the Board” each sound like something Thee Swank Bastards would use to get Szandora LaVey’s hula-hoop up to speed. The two originals, “Goofy Foot” and “Happy Gremmie” are quite fine, the latter with a bluesy edge to its combination of surf and Vegas grind. Great sound (stereo except track 2, 4, 5 and 6) – this is a must have for any surfer stomp; available as an album of MP3’s or a two-fer (with their second album, Surf Drums) as a CD. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

The Belmonts: Cigars Acappella Candy

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Classic ‘50s doo-wop sound applied to pop classics and ‘70s hits

Though typically thought of as the second half of “Dion and the Belmonts,” the group came together before their two-year stint backing Dion, and continued for decades afterwards. In addition to their immediate post-Dion records, the group continued into the 1960s with their own label and releases on United Artists, ABC and Dot. When the oldies revival of the early ‘70s caught back up to them, they released this fine album for Buddah in 1972, applying their a cappella street corner harmonies to pop classics and then-contemporary hits. The ballads are richer than the up-tempo numbers, giving the vocalists more room to stretch out and intertwine, but a cover of the Crystals’ “Da Doo Ron Ron” will remind you of the Belmonts’ swaggering days with Dion. Their cover of B.J. Thomas’ “Rock and Roll Lullaby,” with its soaring falsetto lead and lush harmonies, is terrific and the closing “Street Corner Symphony” takes a four-minute stroll through the history of doo-wop riffs. This is a sweet, nostalgic album that’s weathered the years a lot better than the group’s velveteen jackets. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

The Belmonts Home Page

Soul Clan: Soul Clan

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Legendary soul men cut one strong single as a quintet

Soul Clan – Solomon Burke, Arthur Conley, Don Covay, Ben E. King and Joe Tex – turned out to be more of a concept than a working concern. They waxed only one single as a group, pairing the Southern-styled “Soul Meeting” with the gospel-influenced “That’s How it Feels,” leaving their 1969 album to be filled out with two solo sides apiece. It’s a great set, highlighted by Conley’s transcendent “Sweet Soul Music,” but the two collaborative sides leave you wondering what might have been, if Atco could have coordinated more sessions together. Those with deep collections of the individual performers can now snag the two Soul Clan collaborations as individual digital downloads. Collector’s note: despite the stereo cover art, Rhino’s digital reissue is mono. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Frankie Lymon: Rock ‘n’ Roll

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Teenager steps out for 1958 solo debut

After two successful years fronting the Teenagers, vocalist Frankie Lymon stepped into a surprisingly unsuccessful solo career with this fine 1958 studio album. Having lost his childhood soprano to adolescence, his 16-year-old voice still had plenty of punch, and continued to leap from the grooves. His out-of-breath delivery of “Waitin in School” has an adolescent everything-is-happening-at-once fervor that Ricky Nelson’s cool-cat style didn’t match. It doesn’t hurt to have an ace guitar player – Mickey Baker, perhaps – tearing thing up in the breaks. Producers Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore double the vocals on “Wake Up Little Suzie,” creating a more saucy mood than the Everly’s original, and though covers of the Rays’ “Silhouettes” and the Coasters’ “Searchin’” aren’t particularly inspiring, there’s still plenty here to impress. Lymon’s adolescence adds a note of sweet longing to Nat King Cole’s “Send for Me,” and the R&B “Next Time You See Me” and “Short Fat Fanny” give Lymon a chance to really wail. Most impressive are original approaches to “Jailhouse Rock” and “Diana” that pay each song its due without imitating the hits. Several of these tracks were released as singles, but none had the success of the early Teenagers’ sides; worse, with a heroin habit eating away his abilities, Lymon was dropped by Roulette in 1961. He’d record a few sides for other labels, but this album and a handful of non-LP singles for Roulette (that should have been included here as bonus tracks) represents the end of Lymon’s run as a bright thread in the rock ‘n’ roll tapestry. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

The Flamin’ Groovies: Slow Death

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The Flamin’ Groovies’ wilderness years (1971-73)

These ten tracks help fill in the five year gap between Roy Loney’s departure from the Flamin’ Groovies in 1971 (following the release of Teenage Head) and the band’s re-emergence in a Cyril Jordan-led configuration with the Dave Edmunds-produced Shake Some Action in 1976. In between the band took on singer/guitarist Chris Wilson and released the song “Slow Death” in 1972. It turns out that they recorded several more demos, including several Jordan-Wilson originals and a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Jumping Jack Flash,” as heard on this collection’s first six tracks. Everyone turned up their instruments to eleven and thrashed, the bass was moved forward, the drums pushed the tempos, and the guitars and cymbals created an ear-piercing wall of sound that Chris Wilson still managed to break through with his high pitched wailing. A cover of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” is drawn from a 1972 live television appearance, and another pair of demos include an early version of the group’s iconic “Shake Some Action” that features layered acoustic guitar and more Byrd-like harmony vocals than the better-known album track. The disc closes with a loud and loose cover of Freddie Cannon’s “Tallahassee Lassie,” recorded at the same Rockfield Studio in which the band would later record their mid-70s classics. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Bobby Wayne: Big Guitar

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Twangin’ early-60s boogie-woogie from the Northwest

Bobby Wayne remains a rather obscure country and rockabilly guitarist, despite his prolific release schedule in the early ‘60s. Originally from Spokane, Wayne spent time as a youth in California and Atlanta, and it was during this latter stay, as a teenager in 1955, that he picked up the rockabilly style. Returned once again to Spokane, he played the clubs of the Northwest and eventually hooked up with Jerry Dennon and his Jerden record label. Beginning in 1963, Wayne released a string of singles, including a number of instrumentals anthologized on this 1964 LP. He was a talented picker whose twangy tone showed his original grounding in country music, but whose energy and rhythms were heavily indebted to boogie-woogie, as heard on his “Bobby’s Boogie #1.” If you like the twang of Duane Eddy, Carl Perkins or Chet Atkins, you might like to check out Bobby Wayne; for his rockabilly sides (such as “Sally Ann,” featured below), check the Sundazed EP ’55 Spokane Rockabilly. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Bobby Wayne at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame

Jack Nitzsche: The Lonely Surfer

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Solo debut of legendary pop arranger

Producer, arranger, soundtrack composer and songwriter Jack Nitzsche had only brief chart fame under his own name, with the title track of this album having reached #39 on the singles chart in 1963. But it was under the names of the Crystals, Ronettes, Ike & Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones and dozens of others that his memorable arrangements, orchestrations, and in the case of the Seachers’ “Needles and Pins,” songs, had their most significant impact on the pop market. For his full album follow-up to the fluke hit single, Nitzsche penned a handful of original tunes and charted new orchestrations for pop standards and movie themes, including a swinging run at Elmer Bernstein’s theme from “The Magnificent Seven” and a dramatic rendering of “More,” the theme from Mondo Cane. He borrows his own hook from “Needles and Pins” for the Mexicali-tinged “Puerto Vallarta,” and the string line of “Theme for a Broken Heart” seems to be drawn from Jagger & Richards’ “Blue Turns to Grey.” There’s plenty of low twanging baritone guitar and tympani throughout, demonstrating Nitzsche’s mastery of weaving together pop and orchestral elements. Apart from the title track, a cover of Lee Hazlewood’s “Baja” (which was a contemporaneous hit for the Astronauts), and the bass-twanging “Beyond the Surf,” there’s nothing here that really even feints towards surf music. The album closes with a morose arrangement of “Da Doo Ron Ron” so deeply at odds with the joy of the Crystals’ hit single as to be virtually unrecognizable. This is a pleasant album of orchestral pop, but other than the title track, not nearly as memorable as Nitzsche’s arrangements for Spector and others. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Jack Nitzsche Tribute Page

The Anita Kerr Singers: All You Need is Love

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Soft-pop vocal arrangements of ‘60s hits

The Anita Kerr singers are among the most heard, and least known-by-name, vocal group in the history of recording. That’s because Kerr’s group was the go-to backing group (along with the Jordanaires) for hundreds of sessions during the Nashville Sound era of the early ‘60s. They appeared almost constantly on the charts backing top country hits by Jim Reeves, Ernest Tubb, Faron Young, Brenda Lee, pop records by Pat Boone, Perry Como, Bobby Vinton and many, many others. Alongside their choral work, the group recorded several albums for RCA, including the Grammy winning We Dig Mancini. In the mid-60s Kerr disbanded the Nashville edition of her group, convened a new edition in Los Angeles, and commenced recording for Warner Brothers. This is the group’s fourth, and last album for the label, and was originally issued in the flower-power year of 1967.

Kerr picked her material with an arranger’s ear for possibilities, finding new vocal interplay even in songs as originally complex as the Association’s “Never My Love.” The songs are drawn from pop, rock, folk, soul and easy listening, and Kerr’s arrangements and orchestrations always find something new, often with a vocal-jazz feel. She expands on the vocal work of the Mamas & Papas “No Salt on Her Tail” and turns the Bee Gees’ moody “Holiday” into something contemplative. Less successful are her transformations of the soul tunes, “A Natural Woman” and “How Can I Be Sure.” The album is more a period piece than the lasting art Kerr created with her hit background arrangements, but it remains a pleasant breeze that blew across the heavier rock and soul of the ‘60s. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Arthur Conley: Soul Directions

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Conley’s tragedy turned into great soul music

Southern soul singer Arthur Conley is known to most for his perfect celebration, “Sweet Soul Music.” Based on a “Yeah Man” by his vocal inspiration, Sam Cooke, and co-written with his mentor, Otis Redding, the song topped out in 1967 at #2 on both the Hot 100 and R&B charts and became the lasting emblem of the ‘60s soul movement. But like so many true artists that have one defining single, Conley recorded terrific material both before and after the lightning strike. This 1968 album was a bittersweet affair that collected singles and album sides recorded just months after the airplane crash that killed Redding and the Mar-Keys.

Unlike Conley’s earlier hits, which had been waxed at Muscle Shoals, the album was mostly recorded at the same American Studios in Memphis where Elvis would cap his late-60s comeback. Conley wrote half the songs, including the somber memorial “Otis Sleep On,” and collected a pair from Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn. Memphis horns resound in “Funky Street,” “Hear Say” and “People Sure Act Funny,” and Conley draws from both Redding and Cooke in the pleading “This Love of Mine.” Conley saves his most scorching vocal for the Redding written and produced “Love Comes and Goes.” This is a terrific, deeply felt album that should be in the collection of all soul music fans. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Bob Gibson: Ski Songs

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A wonderful album of original ski-themed folk- and pop-songs

This 1959 album has the hallmarks of a cash-in: a famous folk singer, a comical cover, and a seemingly lightweight theme. And while the subjects may seem trivial in comparison to those of Gibson’s better-known originals, neither the songs nor performances were tossed off lightly. Signed to the roots powerhouse Elektra, Gibson was living in Aspen, and turned his love of skiing into an album of song. His banjo is backed by Russell Savkas’ acoustic bass, Joe Puma’s guitar (which offers a swinging solo on “Ski Patrol”), with Eric Weissberg filling out the arrangements on all three. The result is a surprisingly clever, joyous and fulfilling album, with Gibson telling the imagined conquests of insufferable ski braggarts, the gory demise of a hot dogger, the ennui brought by Spring and the rebirth furnished by Winter. He interweaves skiing lingo the way Brian Wilson and Roger Christian did with hot rod talk, offering up a wry introduction to winter sport with the talking blues “Talking Skier,” and showing affection for snow-covered landscapes in “In This White World.” Several of the tunes are familiar, as Gibson practices the folk tradition of repurposing melodies from well-known songs. “Super Skier” borrows from “The MTA Song” (which, itself was borrowed from “The Ship That Never Returned”) and “Super Skier’s Last Race” borrows from “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” While many of Gibson’s albums have were anthologized and reissued over the years, this one remained elusive until this welcome reissue. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Bob Gibson Legacy Site